Trip To Mysore

Mysore being just 150 kms from Bangalore, is a very common weekend getaway.

 

Hence everytime we have some guests, we usually drive to Mysore for a short trip. This time it was my dear sister and brother in law who visited us on the Independence day weekend. Since my hubby was not in town, we decided to hire a cab to go to Mysore. 

 

Mysore is popularly known for its Brindvan Gardens, Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hills and its zoo. Mysore is also famous for its Mysore silk sarees and you find quite a good number of mysore silk sarees emporium there.



At Brindavan Gardens



 We had booked the cab for 6.00 AM, but the guy turned at 7.00 AM. On the way, we had breakfast at a hotel which is just opposite Kamats. We have been to this place many times and it is a good option if you want to get away with the overcrowd at Kamats. They also have a small play area for kids. Probably that's the reason why we prefer this place.

Just a few kms before reaching Mysore, there is this historical town of Srirangapatna. To start with, we visited the Ranganathaswamy temple here. That was a wonderful start for our trip.





Ranganathaswamy Temple

 





Next we visited the popular Tipu Sultan Palace. After some modeling poses and photo sessions by my dear sister , we proceeded further to Mysore.

 



At Tipu Sultan Palace



 

 

 

We reached Mysore at around 11.00 AM. At first, we visited the Saint Philomena Church. It was a wonderful and refreshing experience as I was visiting a church after a very long time. In Goa, I have always studied in a convent school. Hence visiting a church or a chapel was a weekly program.





Saint Philomena Church

 



Next view point was Chamundi Hills. Unfortunately the road till the hills was blocked and hence we had to trek some distance to reach the hills. It would be around 50 odd steps, but the hot sun made it difficult to walk up. As it was a weekend, the crowd was too large. Hence instead of standing in darshan queue, we took kind of mukh darshan. There is also a shighra darshan for Rs 100, but looked like shighra would take around an hour or so, hence we skipped that too.





Chamundi Hills Temple





Mahishasura at Chamundi Hills



Our stomach was growling...needed food and energy, the idlis and the dosas had digested by then. We stopped by a decent restaurant before moving towards the Mysore Palace. Next to our restaurant was a Sand museum. We all barged in the sand museum. Some pics from sand museum below.

 

 







 

Exploring the sand museum through binoculars :)

Next we went to see the Mysore Palace. The rush inside the palace was comparatively less as compared to the rush in the market area outside the palace. We walked through the whole palace to see all the remains of the kings and queens. The Palace is really huge and magnificent. Earlier when I had visited during Dushera time , they had light up the whole palace and then it looked more awesome - a breathtaking sight :) But now, without the lighting also, it looked amazing!!



The Mysore Palace



 

Exploring Inside Mysore Palace

 

Next halt was Brindavan Gardens. We reached there at around 6 in the evening, which was quite a good time to be there. But it had become quite dark and cloudy.





View at Brindavan Gardens



All of us are big shoukeens of boating hence we started with the boat ride. This boat ride was quite different than the usual one and was quite exciting.

 

My sister and brother in law

 

Me and my daughter

 

View from Boating

By the time boating got over, it started raining. the whole crowd at Brindavan garden were under one small shade. There is a  musical fountain at 7.00 PM and my brother in law was very keen in seeing that. So around 7 PM, we crossed the bridge to reach the other side, where the musical fountain was to be displayed. It was very difficult finding the path in the dark and in the rains. Finally we managed to reach the place.







After the musical fountain, we planned to return home back. But again it started raining very heavily. So after a long halt, we realized that the rains have decided to wet us today. So we started towards our cab. Sitting in the cab was a huge relief as we were all very tired by then. It had past 8'oClock. On the way also, it was raining very heavily. Finally we reached home safely at around midnight.

 

It was a wonderful day out with my sister and brother in law. Every time I visit that place, I have more experiences added and a bigger bunch of wonderful memories with me.

Club Cabana Team Outing

March end comes again...With it bangs the Team Outing plans.

Now two big questions - Date and Venue for the outing. After a lot of discussions and checking lot of resorts in and around Bangalore, we finally decide to go once again to the same old place - Club Cabana.

 

Venue is resolved...now the next question - When to go. Again some more discussions whether to go on Thursday or Friday. Thursday is a big day for all the Indian cricket fans. The semi final will decide whether India enters the finals after knocking out the Kiwis. And Fridays, all resorts are overbooked. So finally we decide to go on "The Tuesday, Mar 31st". WOW :)

Last year also around the same time, we had been to the same place with the same team. Looks like we want to recreate the same magic once again ;)

Finally "D Day" arrives. We reach Club Cabana at around 9.30 AM. After the welcome drink, we quickly head on towards the breakfast. Breakfast is quite decent with Idli Sambhar and Puri Sabji. At that hungry moment, I guess we would have gobbled anything happily.

As usual, soon after the breakfast, the guys disappeared to play cricket. The gals got togather to experiment with carrom and volleyball. They have many more activities like Badminton, Table Tennis, Archery, Bowling, etc.

 

One of our colleague Latha, who is also a budding photographer, took this great opportunity to try out a photo shoot. And some of us obliged to model for her. Below are some captures.

 

After a long photo session covering every corner of the magnificent Club Cabana, we played some team games. Some of them quite interesting and tiring...and some games really dumb...

Next the guys went on to enjoy some vodka shots and we went on to try our luck on Bowling shots. Bowling was complimentary with our package. I guess this depends on your bargaining skills though :)

Finally the lunch time. Lunch was not really great but manageable.

Post lunch we started with water activities, which was the most fun. In my opinion, the most striking thing that's sets this resort far apart from other resorts is the number of water activities it accommodates. Most of the other resorts have just a pool, but here there is Lazy River, Wave Pool, three types of water rides, Jacuzzi. I guess this is the reason for its popularity. We all just loved Lazing around in the lazy river, soaking our self in the Jacuzzi, jumping around with the coming waves in the wave pool and the best of all - the water rides.

 

 

 

 

Overall I feel this is a very good resort espcially for the water activities. Also it occupies a large area and so you hardly find it crowded. Only thing I did not like about this place is the food especially the lunch. I guess they can still improve it.

Overall it is a nice place for the team outings :)

and that's Vivek - our official outing organizer :)

Bannerghatta National Park

This was probably the sixth time I was visiting the Bannerghatta National Park. But this time I felt that this place is really worth mentioning in my blog. It not only houses a plethora of animals but also some of the rarest species of birds. The biggest attraction here is "The Grand Safari" which includes safari for elephant, deer, black bear, lion and tiger.

Our plan was to leave the house by 10.00 in the morning, But as usual we were 1 hour late. We left at 11 and reached there by 12. Much to our surprise, it was compartively less crowded for a saturday morning. Probably all the Bangaloreans were travelling out of the city as it was the first long weekend of the year 2015. Immediately we took the ticket for the grand safari. It was around Rs 260 per head and that would also include the entry to the zoo.

This time, I could see a big difference in the development of the area around this place. It was full of shops, vendors and small eat outs. Also the area was well developed with lush green gardens and some fountains.

We entered the gate and immediately moved towards the safari queue. We immediately got the safari jeep and settled in the first seat. WOW.. thats the best place anyone could ask for.

All Happy to be on first seat in the safari jeep :)

As we moved through the hilly terrain through the forests, we spotted some deers, some elepants, one cute little baby elephant. Next we entered the Bear zone, followed by the Lion zone and finally the tiger zone. Below captured pictures explain the same.

The Tiger

Tiger trying to climb the tree

Deer

Black bear coming near our safari jeep

Another black bear hinding in the woods

Wild elephants

The security while entering these zones is really just amazing. When the jeep enters, the first gate opens. Then the first gate is closed and then only the second gate is opened. And finall once the jeep is out, the second gate closes.

The entire safari took around 45 mins. On the safari jeep, there was a ad about some neraby restuarent serving dosas. As soon as the safari ended, we went there to have dosa. It was okay, not really great. But there were hardly any food restuarents around, so that was our best option. I guess carrying food from home would have been a better option.

After that, we entered the zoo on the same ticket. Exploring the zoo was fun. They have a good variety of animals right from the White Peacock to the White Tiger. They also have some rare species of birds from Africa like Macau, Parrots, etc. It takes around 2-3 hours to explore the place.

Thats our little monkey sitting on elephant ;)

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There is also a butterfly park, but we did not visit that. I also read a board that read "Way to boating", thats something new here, I guess. But we were quite tired and hence chose not to go for it. For elder people, there is a eco-car facility given, which will take them through the entire park.

There is also a small amusement park outside, but after a whole tiring day, none of us were in a mood to go there, except Charvi who is always extra enthu on outings.

Overall it was a wonderful and fulfilling trip!!

Trip to Maheshwar

I am not sure how many of you would have heard about this place. In my opinion, Maheshwar is a hidden gem and one should not miss visiting this beautiful place.

Maheshwar is an ancient city which is known for its forts that are located on the banks of river Narmada. This Narmada Ghat is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful ghats I have ever seen. Hence I called it as a hidden gem. It is around 80 kms from Indore, Madhya Pradesh and around 2 hours drive.

Our Indore trip would not have been complete without the family trip to this wonderful place. After having some delicious methi paratha prepared by our wonderful mami, we left Indore at around 9 in the morning,  The drive to this place is quite good and troublefree. Initially we had decided to visit only Maheshwar. But later extended also to Mandleshwar which is further 8 kms away. We reached Mandleshwar at around 12.

Mandleshwar is known for its water supply and filtration plant. Above is a picture of the entry to this water supply plant. This plant pumps the Narmada water and purifies it and then distributes it to most of the places in Madhya Pradesh. After a long search, we managed to spot this plant. It has basically two seperate units, one to pump water from Narmada and store it in huge tanks.

This water further goes to the filtration plant. This magnificient filter unit is worth watching. Below is the picture of the filter unit. The rim surrounding the water tank is actaully the pathway to monitor this unit. We were lucky to get a chance to walk around this pathway. The experience of visiting this water filter unit was unexpectadly an exciting and somewhat thrilling for all of us.

After this short educational trip, we went to Maheshwar, which is around 8 kms from here. To satiate our hunger buds, we gobbled some local fruits from the market. At the entry of Maheshwar fort, we all got full recharged with the refreshing sugarcane juice. This was much needed for some trekking to the Fort and the Ghat.

As we walked inside past the arch, we could already see the fort, which overlooks the Narmada river. One can get a very good paranomic view of the Narmada river as well as the ghat from here. Next to it is the Ahilya Bai Holkars Palace. It was more like a Rajwada kind of a house. For those who dont know Rani Ahilya Bai Holkar is a widow who ruled this place for years and is known for her courage and determination and also her governance and ability to maintain perfect law and order in her kingdom. This place also has a big statue of Ahilyabai Holkar.

Next halt - the most awaited Narmada Ghat. We walked down a few steps to reach the Narmada Ghat. This place is surrounded by temples. Much to my surprise, there were hardly much tourists here. It was more like a peaceful shrine. And whoever visited this place, were more inclined to go for boating rather than to temples. Below is the picture of one of the temples.

There were many boats waiting for us. We all jumped into one nice Shikara kind of a boat. Boating was really fun. As our boat moved away from the shore, we could again see the whole paranomic view of the Narmada Ghat and the fort. It looked really picturesque and serene. Below is the view of Narmada Ghat from our boat. Here you can also see the fort.

In this picture, you can see the entry to the ghats and the awaiting Shikara boats.

There were many people taking a dip in the water. But unfortunately none of us came prepared for a swim. So finally we decided to sit down on the ghat and atleast dip our legs inside this holy water, splashing water on each other once in a while.

The ghat is surrounded by many temples. Each of the temple has meticulosuly carved architecture. Here is Charvi posing near one of the temples.

After enjoying some chats, we finally decided to retreat back. Aila...we had almost forgotten about lunch. While on our way back, we had lunch at Foody's. Fortunately food was available there even at 5 PM.

We reached back to Indore at around 8 PM. All thanks to Rohit dada and his non stop bakbak, that kept us entertaining throughout the journey.

Visit to Indore

Welcome to the Foodies City of Indore...Also known as the Cultural Capital of Madhya Pradesh.

Though Indore does not look very far from Bangalore when seen on a map, the travel from Bangalore to Indore gives a different picture.

There are not many direct trains or flights from Bangalore to Indore. We had to take the Rajdhani till Bhopal and after a overnight stay in Bhopal, the next day, we took the double decker train to Indore. This was the first time I was travelling by a double decker train in India. There are also chartered buses (Volvo) running between Bhopal - Indore , 24 hours a day.

Though Indore is not a very popular tourist destination, one can definately visit this place for the varieties of gourmets. And if you are a foody, then this is a must visit destination. For us, the reason was very obvious. My hubby has many relatives settled in Indore, and it was almost 5 years since we had visited them last.

Some popular places to visit here are the Annapurna Temple, Rajwada, the Chaatris, etc.

My favourite being the Rajwada. Not for its construction or carvings but for the ample number of eatouts surrounding that place.

Below are some of the "Must Try" items.
- Coconut stuffed Aloo Tikki called as Coconut Patties
- Rabdi
- Shikanji
- Poha served with garma garam Jalebis
- Garadu - deep fried Yam
- Gulab Jamuns
- Bhutte ki kees
- Pani Puri - popularly known here as Pani Patase

The best way to enjoy these delicacies is by visiting the "Sarafa Bazar".
This is set up late evenings everyday till the wee hours in the morning.
These eatouts are setup just outside the jewellary shops (sarafa) ...hence the name.
Here you can enjoy wide varieties of snacks..from Kachori to Chole Patties, Jalebis to Gulab Jamuns and everything served hot and fresh.

Try the coconut patties and Kachori at Vijay Chaat. Walk down a few lanes to try the Dahi Wada at Joshis followed by the Shikanji at Nagori Sweets.

Seeing the crowd at these places will tell you that Indori people are really big shoukeens of food.

Another such place is the Chappan Bazar where there are Chappan eatouts setup in the late evening. Unfortunately I could not visit this place. This is a must visit place for my next Indore trip.

Below are some "take away" items which one can buy to enjoy Indori Tadka back home
- Sev (Lahsun Sev, Ratlami Sev, Ujjaini Sev and many more varieties)
- Farsan and Chiwda
- Gajak - a must "take away"

This blog talks more about food or rather only about food...

But Indore is not only about food. The market area here is also very interesting. Here you will see market in very nook and corner...just like the food joints. As the winters are quite extreme, the varities and choices of warm clothes and winter wear available here is really awesome.

Indore is close to many other tourist places like Ujjain, Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, Mandu and that could be one more reason for tourists to visit this place.

Below is the link to our trip to Maheshwar :)
Trip to Maheshwar

So whenever you are trying to decide on a vacation the next time, do consider visiting Indore, especially if you are a foodie ;)

Enjoy Travelling!!